THE CITY REBORN FROM THE ASHES OF AMERICA'S MOST DISASTROUS FOREST FIRE

Suring/Marinette Stay On Top; Peshtigo Win Streak At Seven

Issue Date: January 17, 2018

Big Second Half Powers Peshtigo Past NEW Lutheran

NEW Lutheran hung with Peshtigo for the first half of Tuesday night's home game, but the Bulldogs pulled away in the second half with stronger shooting to extend their winning streak to seven.

The Bulldogs led 25-19 at the half, but they scored 42 points in the second half to improve the final line, winning 67-41.

They shot 44 percent from the field on 58 shots, while attempting 20 free throws. On defense, they held the Blazers to only 42 shots, with a 28 percent shooting total.

Mitchell VanVooren led the Bulldogs with 19 points on 9-17 shooting for the second game in a row, but he made just one of his five free throw attempts.

Max Neumann made six of his seven attempts from the field for a 12-point total. Trent Carriveau scored eight points and Reid Marquardt hauled in nine rebounds to go along with his six steals.

NEW Lutheran's leading scorer was Samuel Meerstein, who had 22 points, making just five of his 17 shots. He was efficient at the free throw line, however, making 10 of 12 attempts.

The Bulldogs out-rebounded NEW Lutheran 37-18, getting a 12-rebound advantage on the defensive boards. They also had 12 more assists and nine more steals, though turnovers continue to plague the Bulldogs as well.

Peshtigo turned the ball over 23 times, with the Blazers getting 14 points off of those turnovers. NEW had 25 turnovers leading to 18 Peshtigo points.

Mahoney Leads Eagles Past Thunderhawks

The M&O Conference-leading Suring Eagles took care of business at home against the Oneida Nation Thunderhawks on Tuesday, winning by a 74-63 final.

Ryan Mahoney was dominant for the Eagles, scoring 36 points and making five three-pointers.

Mitch Stegeman and Caleb Lally each had 15 as well for Jim Keeffe's squad. Keeffe was just glad to see his team get the win, though he noted some things that can be improved on.

"I'm glad we got a victory. It's a good, classy opponent and they can shoot the ball," he said. "I think we gave up a little bit too much penetration out of our 1-3-1 zone. There's some stuff on the top of the zone we can fix."

Offensively, the Eagles were very efficient, though Keeffe noted that the team didn't move very well offensively. Despite that, they built a 15-point lead with under 12 minutes to go before slowing the game down and limiting the Thunderhawks' possessions.

"When we're up by 15, it seems like it would only be smart to make fewer possessions for them. The less they have the ball, the less they can score," Keeffe said. "I've got some smart guys that can score."

Oneida Nation, who are now 4-3 in the conference, got double-digit scoring from four players. Seth Chaplen had 19, Richard Summers had 15, Ryan King had 11 and Justin Hill chipped in 10. The team's other eight points came from Jose Sanchez.

Bulldogs Finish Strong, Stop the Storm, 66-57

After a slow start that saw them go down by as much as seven, the Peshtigo Bulldogs played a dominant second half of basketball to defeat the Kewaunee Storm 66-57 on Friday.

The Storm started off hot, taking a 9-2 lead just three minutes into the game, but the Bulldogs would hang around to keep things tight, with junior guard Reid Marquardt hitting a three and senior guard Max Neumann scoring on a reverse layup.

The teams would battle back and forth, with Kewaunee taking a 27-25 lead with a minute and a half remaining in the first half. Junior forward Mitchell VanVooren put in two free throws to tie things up and junior guard Trent Carriveau got the crowd on its feet as he hit from beyond the arc to give Peshtigo a three-point lead at the half.

Carriveau scored 12 points on 4-8 shooting, including making two of his three shots from downtown. The team went 5-8 from deep, with Marquardt also making three of his four attempts.

Marquardt was one of a few players that stepped up in the absence of usual starting forward Nate Goneau, who is battling an injury and won't be re-evaluated for another week.

"I think Reid stepped up and had some good minutes," Peshtigo Coach Nate Motkowski said after the game. "It's something we talked about right before we came out. We've got two guys out right now, one of them a starter, so we said, "these are moments where guys can step up and earn more time.'"

Though he shot the lights out and added two assists, Marquardt said he felt his biggest contribution was on the defensive end, where he got three steals.

"It's nice to get out there and play some good defense. That's what coach wants from us," Marquardt said. "It doesn't matter how many points you score, as long as you play good defense and hustle."

The teams battled back and forth over the first seven minutes of the second half, with the Bulldogs' lead sitting at four with 11 minutes to play. That's when Marquardt hit another of his threes to stretch the lead to seven and junior Cameron Noffke added a steal and layup.

With seven minutes to play, Noffke grabbed a rebound and finished in the paint to stretch the lead to double digits, and his team never looked back, finishing the Storm off on both ends of the floor.

Motkowski said the team didn't make any adjustments at halftime that led to the team's improved play.

"I'd like to say we made an adjustment but we didn't," Motkowski said. "It wasn't any adjustments we made, it was just the guys relaxing and making the right decisions instead of trying to force it."

VanVooren finished as the game's leading scorer, going 9-17 from the field and 5-8 at the free throw line and finishing with 23 points. Noffke added 10, Marquadt had nine and Neumann finished with seven points, leading all players with nine rebounds.

The win was the Bulldogs' sixth in a row after a 1-5 start to the season.

"It wasn't a great game but I was happy with the way our guys played smart at times and stepped up when we needed it and got the "W,'" Motkowski said. "That's all that matters. We're still learning and growing and getting better each week."

Marquardt, one of 10 juniors on the squad, said the team is gaining chemistry and experience, leading to better play on the floor.

Junior Alexander Hewett led the Storm with 20 points on 6-16 shooting, while senior Cody Bultman had 10.

Wausaukee

Downs Florence

Though the Bobcats fell behind, it was Kaden Schuls' night as he fired in 21 points. Evan Beaster also had a great game, piling in 21 points as well.

Tigers Claw Way to Win Over Badgers

The Gillett Tigers scratched up a hard fought win over the Niagara Badgers Monday night when they traveled to Niagara for a 55-53 victory.

It was a back and forth contest. Niagara got ahead early with a 30 pint readout in the first while the Tiger made up ground over the second with a 33 point readout.

After the first half Niagara led 30-22. "We played really well at times on both ends of the court," said Niagara head coach Jim Hoogland. At one point in the second half we had a 14 point lead. Poor free throw shooting, untimely mistakes and defensive breakdowns down the stretch were the difference maker."

Niagara was led by Austin Hagerty with 20 while Tristan DeJardin and Zak Prideaux both chipped in seven.

Cougars Blast Badgers

The Coleman Cougars were unstoppable against the Niagara Badgers Tuesday night in Coleman as they nearly doubled up on the Badgers 61-33.

Coleman wasted no time in building that big lead as they entered the locker room ahead 30-17.

Austin Marquardt did a lot of the leg work along with teammate Cole Woulf. The two combined for 36 points with Marquardt scoring 20. Aaron Fraser tacked on eight.

Austin Hagerty led the way for the Badgers with 10 points while Tristan DeJardin got five and Zak Prideaux four.

Crivitz Takes Win Over Wausaukee

The Crivitz Wolverines and Wausaukee Rangers faced off for an M&O conference rivalry game Tuesday night with the Wolverines stealing the show in Wausaukee 78-65.

At first it looked like the contest was going to be a back and forth battle but that soon changed as the Wolverines went wild over the closing half of the opening frame for a massive 43-26 lead.

Wolverine Jaden Werner had a lot to do with the lead as he fired in 12 first half points.

Dawson Andrist picked up any slack that the Wolverines had over the second half with nine points.

The Rangers struggled to meet the Wolverines lead but Matthew Delfosse refused to mogive up. After plugging out six first half points Delfosse went on fire piling up 18 second half points.

By the end f the game Delfosse had proved his worth with 24 total points, enough for top scoring honors. he was followed by gruszynski with 12 points and Christian Shigouri with 10.

The Wolverines were led by Werner with 17 points and Travis Giese with 13. Shane Bauer chipped in 11.

Marines Get Past Panthers, Remain Tied for NEC Lead

Marinette beat Oconto Falls on Tuesday, Jan. 16, though it's likely they won't be too happy with the margin of victory.

Oconto Falls is tied for last in the North Eastern Conference, while Marinette is first. The Marines, who are 10-2 overall, defeated the 2-9 Panthers by the score of 58-48 after being outscored in the second half, 27-25.

Marinette was led by 22 points from Jake Poetzl, Jordan Wendt's 20 and Matt Wagner with 12, as the trio combined for over 93 percent of the team's points.

The Panthers were more spread out in their scoring. The team got 11 from Dakota Carriveau, the team's only player in double figures.

Goodman-Pembine Downs White Lake in Defensive Battle

Goodman-Pembine defeated White Lake on Friday, Jan. 12 behind 12 points from Hagan Braaten and some tough defense to close out the game.

Goodman-Pembine scored 20 points in the second half, relying instead on their defense to get the win.

"This was a defensive battle with stops and turnovers dominating play," Goodman-Pembine Coach John Swick said. "White Lake really brought a lot of intensity and at times we just didn't match it."

Despite entering the halftime break with a lead, Swick said he didn't feel the team had a lot of momentum.

"White Lake came out with more pressure in the second half and we just needed to step it up a bit more," Swick said, crediting the team's free throw shooting to seal the game.

"I was really glad we finally hit some free throws down the stretch to close it out for a very big conference win," he said.

Evan Metras had nine points for the Patriots, with Wyatt Marcy and Gerald Kegley each adding eight and Elisha Heath scoring six.

Lena Takes Win Over STAA

The Lena Wildcats took a 70-68 win over the hosting St. Thomas Aquinas Cavaliers Tuesday night.

STAA held the lead at the half 37-28 but a determined Wildcat crew refused to let it stand.

STAA's Jack Farley did not fail to impress, scoring 31 points over the course of competition. It was the highest total score of anyone else in the game. . Tyler Stuart chipped in 16 while Christian Hornick got eight.